Convention Update: NCAA’s Oliver Luck to Deliver Keynote Address

NEW ORLEANS – Oliver Luck, the NCAA’s Executive Vice President of Regulatory Affairs, will deliver the keynote speech at the opening session of the 2015 U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) Convention in San Antonio, Texas, this December.

The successful administrator and businessman – who is also a former NFL quarterback and the father of Indianapolis Colts QB Andrew Luck – will address the USTFCCCA membership during the opening session on Wednesday, December 16, at the JW Marriott San Antonio Hill Country Resort & Spa.

From his time as president of NFL Europe to the front office in the MLS to his tenure as the athletics director at West Virginia, Luck has a long track record of being an innovator and problem solver. These traits enable him to be a leader in the changing collegiate sports landscape and provide big-picture perspective that could relate to the future successes or failures of track & field and cross country,

“It is very exciting and very important to have NCAA leadership address any collegiate coaches association, and we’ve been fortunate to have had two NCAA presidents and two executive vice presidents willing to come interact with our member coaches over the past few years,” USTFCCCA CEO Sam Seemes said.

“As an association, it is important for all of us – especially during these changing times in college athletics – to always be aware of the NCAA’s direction and objectives. To have the honor of hosting Oliver will be an invaluable benefit for all of our member coaches as he provides invaluable insight into the NCAA and the evolving landscape of collegiate sports.”

In his current role, Luck oversees the NCAA’s departments of Academic and Membership Affairs, Eligibility Center, and Enforcement. He is “charged with developing stronger integration among regulatory staffs, improving efficiency and strengthening relationships with NCAA colleges and universities,” per the NCAA.

As part of an NCAA effort to bring more athletics director perspective into its decision-making processes, Luck provides significant first-hand experience with the day-to-day operations of a campus athletic department. Luck joined the NCAA national office’s senior staff in 2015 after having most recently served as the Director of Athletics at his alma mater West Virginia since 2010.

He was also chosen in 2013 as one of the inaugural members of the College Football Playoff Management Committee for the 2014 season, which was responsible for selecting the four teams in the first-ever Football Bowl Subdivision playoffs.

Following a school-record-breaking undergraduate career as the quarterback at West Virginia and a five year stint with the Houston Oilers of the NFL, he received his Juris Doctorate from the University of Texas Law School in 1987 and began a successful career as a businessman and administrator.

In the 1990s he was a general manager for a pair of teams (Frankfurt Galaxy, then Rhein Fire) in the World League of American Football before being named president of the league in 1996 and overseeing its rebranding into NFL Europe.

Luck became the CEO of the Harris County Sports Authority in 2001, which oversaw the development and construction of several sports/entertainment venues in Houston, Texas’ most populous city. He would later become the president of the city’s Major League Soccer club, the Houston Dynamo, in 2005 and remain with the team until the beginning of his West Virginia AD tenure in 2010.

Registration for the 2015 USTFCCCA Convention is available here.